You can now build a killer gaming PC using Bitcoin, thanks to Newegg

For a short period, online retailers accepting Bitcoin as payment became so frequent that it was almost expected, and no longer special. However, most of the retailers that joined the Bitcoin craze weren’t big-name outlets, and you couldn’t purchase items that were everyday useful, such as groceries or electronics.

Toward the end of 2013, Overstock became the first major retailer to accept the cryptocurrency, which meant customers could pay for a variety of household items. It still remains to be seen if Bitcoin is here to stay for everyone, or just here to stay for Bitcoin fans, but now another major retailer is accepting the cryptocurrency, and it’s an outlet where you can buy parts to build your own Bitcoin mining rig: Newegg.

It appears as though there isn’t a limit as to what items can be purchased with Bitcoin — most, if not everything, seems to be fair game. To pay with Bitcoin, you simply follow the regular checkout process. Dump an item into your cart, select the shipping method, then choose Bitcoin when confronted with a choice of payment options. After reviewing your order information and clicking a button that is effectively a lie stating you’ve read Newegg’s Terms and Conditions, you’re presented with a few methods of exchanging the digital currency. If your Bitcoin wallet is installed on the computer with which you’re making the purchase, you can simply click the Pay with Bitcoin button. If your wallet is stored on your phone, you can scan a QR code to begin the process. If you’re wallet is stored on the web, you can view Newegg’s wallet address, then send the payment there. Like every Newegg transaction, an email confirmation is fired off after the purchase goes through.

I recently built a new gaming rig. The old one was only two years old, and it could have lasted a year or two longer at the rate I game, but it was too hot and loud for the summer, so that was that. I managed to keep the build under the $1,000 mark, and ordered everything from Amazon Prime so I could take advantage of the free fast shipping. The new rig, which runs everything I play on the highest settings and maintains above 60 frames per second on average, would have cost a Bitcoin and a half at the market’s current price of around $600 per.

Newegg is arguably the first outlet to accept Bitcoin that sells high-value, very desirable products — but perhaps that’s just because we work for a site called Geek. Humble Bundle also accepts Bitcoin, and while buying video games with fake money you generated without having a job is always neat, using fake money to build a fancy computer to run those games feels much more incredible.